Continue To Lie - Tpn Fanfic

Chapter 26 - Dead Bastard

"N/N?"

My gaze lingers on her for what feels like eternity, and she glares back. We both watch each other, taking in the noticable changes.          Emma. Emma...

"Emma!"

      She runs to me, dropping her gun, her arms open. She hugs me with enough pressure to throw me onto the ground. She squeezes me, dampening my shoulder once again. But it's not a nuisance; more like a blessing.

"N/N, is it really you? You're real, aren't you? You're here?"

       She lets her head fall onto my shoulder to cry, and I do the same.

"I'm real. I'm here. I'm so glad you're safe, Emma. I missed you like you can't even imagine."

"No, I missed you more! Ray and Don, they both missed you so much! And Jemima wondered where you were, and Ray wouldn't talk about it, and, and-"

"Shh, it's okay. Don't cry, you'll get dehydrated."

       Her grip on me loosens as she tries to enjoy the hug. She finally stops hyperventilating after 4 minutes or so, but she doesn't stop hugging me until I do.

"What are you doing here?"

I ask her, rubbing her arms comfortingly. I look down to face her, but I'm only met with her neck. I have to look up to see her eyes.

"Have you grown taller? What have you been eating, how are you so tall!?"

      She laughs and wipes away a tear.

"I've been eating a lot of yummy food. I made new friends, and we even found a shelter belonging to Mr. Minerva! Inside the shelter there was a man, and he put a gun to my head and I had to kick him in the balls to make him let go of me but then he fainted and we had to tie him up and lock him in a room and then we made the best of the shelter and made a deal with the guy who wouldn't tell us his name to take us to Goldy Pond to find what Mr. Minerva wanted us to find and me and Ray were super tired but we kept moving forward, and we're pretty sure the guy planned to kill one of us because he didn't like us kids but then I was captured or something and the last thing I remember is Ray calling out to me and then I woke up here!"

       She tries to catch her breath, because those were a lot of words. Violet walks towards us, probably trying to make sense of what's going on.

"So... do you two know each other, or..?"

        Before I'm giving the chance to respond, loud music starts to play from nearby. It's playful and childish, but it's so unbearably loud that me and Emma have to cover our ears. Violet puts herself in-between us.

"The monsters are coming."

She tells us. What? Now?  But I just got reunited with Emma, couldn't they have waited a little? It's not the right time, damnit! Stupid bastards.

"You should go and hide now."

She finishes. I look over at Emma, who seems to be really confused. That's the Emma I know.

"Listen quick, Emma. This place is a demon's hunting ground. They hunt children for fun, so you should go and hide with Violet. I'm going to help those in need."

"That can't be true. Demons had to stop hunting humans because of the promise!"

"This is private property, a garden belonging to a bastard- sorry, a demon. All the children here, including the three of us, are allowed to live here to be hunted. It's a secret from most of the farms; a secret playground."

       I'll explain the details to her later, but right now, I need to focus on getting Emma to a safe place and finding Hayato. Then, me and him will go save some bastard-prey and kick some bastard-butt.

"HELP!"

I react rapidly to the scream. That's someone's cry for help, I need to reach them quickly. I take my gun out and head towards the noise.

"Margaret, wait!"

"N/N, I'm coming too!"

"HEY!"

       Violet shouts. Emma escapes her grasps and follows me. 

"What are you doing!?"

I ask her, frustrated. She catches up and talks side-by-side to me while we both hurry to the sound of the cry.

"I have to help, too! There's someone in danger!"

"I should've known."

         I laugh.

-

"Found ya!"

        A revolting voice yells gleefully. The bastard with the revolting voice has 4 arms, over twenty eyes, an extravagant golden collar and a tight yellow tunic-like shirt with long brown sleeves and golden wrist guards, a gold-colored, oval shaped mask, and two giant horns coming out the sides of it. I'm very good at depicting, you should know.

 "I'll give you ten seconds. You may choose among the three of you which will be chased and hunted by me! Once you decide, the other two can go."

       Me and Emma stare, hiding behind bushes. She tries to run up to the bastard, but I stop her. I need to get a good understanding of this bastard's personality and how he attacks. Plus, he's not going to kill the children just yet. He loves to hear himself talk.

"Which one will you choose? The small one that's hurt, or the girl who managed to hurt my attendant? Or maybe even the boy hiding all alone and abandoning his friends?"

       The one who's hurt is a short kid with grey hair, the girl around the same age as Emma defending the little boy with a spear, and the teen who's a tad older than me with a very large nose hiding to no prevail behind a tree.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

       The irritating bastard starts to count, therefore now is probably the time to do something. However, I can't do too much, since I feel the presence of another stronger bastard nearby. Emma has an axe, maybe she can-

"RUN!!"

Emma runs out of the bushes, axe in hand, dull-speed at the irritating bastard. She throws her weapon at him, aiming for its black eyes.

"EMMA!"

      I yell. The taller, stronger bastard I had sensed nearby hurries to catch Emma's axe. I adjust my gun and shoot at it, which doesn't harm him much but does slow him down enough. He fails to grab the axe in time before it penetrates the irritating bastard's eye.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGHHHGHHHHH!"

It screams in agony. Its gut-wrenching howl makes me sick to my stomach. He doesn't deserve to victimize himself. Before any of the bastards take notice of it, me and Emma have already evacuated the three children from the area.

"They're gone."

The strong and tall one says. The irritating one screams in pain, his subordinates coming to his rescue.

"I'M BLEEDING, I'M BLEEDING!! MY EYE, THEY GOT MY EYE! I CAN'T DIE, I AM LUCE! I AM LUCE!! I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED LIKE THIS!!!"

They managed to aim for his eye? They know our vital points? Could those two humans be some of the monthly replenishments from Grand Valley? No, but then how would they be aware of our weaknesses? One child had an axe that wasn't part of the weaponry the children were provided, and the other held a gun strong enough to break our masks. 

"The hunt is over for today. Bring Luce back to the house, and signal the music. There has been a casualty. The hunt is over."